BLOW OUT ALL THE CANDLES!!!!!

Hello everyone: I'm a little late posting this card, I've been doing some SERIOUS rearranging of my craft room, purging some papers, embellishments, stickers, glitter, ribbon, yarn and other goodies to donate them to my granddaughter Anastasia's Art Club in school, the kids are in dyer need of supplies, I'm also going to go get them some glue, tape and coloring pencils and other stuff, for their art projects.
But anywho, here is this card that I'm linking to the Seize the Birthday "Anything Goes" challenge and the Stamp Ink Paper "Card Maker's Choice" challenge (we're suppose to use our favorite stamps and papers but, in my case, all of my stamps are my favorites, I chose this one for the Seize the Birthday challenge), and the LiveLoveCards Masculine Challenge, I figured this card could go either way but the fact that it looks like this chickens are all "boys" made me take a chance and submit it to this challenge.

Ok, just the expression of concern on some of this chicken's faces makes me smile but then, add the gazillion candles, this cake looks like it could be mine, hmm.. I think I can count almost 65 candles, sheeesh!! I kept it pretty simple, (ah...it's not CAS at all, ok? just simple without the clean part), I used colors that kind of match the chicken's crests and.....what are those things under their beaks called? Anyway, just stamped t his Penny Black image called "Best of Luck"  onto a panel of Canson water color paper and colored it with the aqua painter and SU markers, I sponged a bit of Old Olive for the grass and a litle of Broken China distress ink for the sky, added 4 Candy Dots and that was it. Here is a picture of the finish inside.

Here are the banners that inspired this card.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

CELEBRATE!!!!!

Hello dear stamping friends: I have a card to share with you today using one of my favorite Penny Black stamp sets called HUGS , here is my card.

I did some masking on this image, the little Hedgehog is holding a bouquet of flowers but I wanted him to hold one of balloons so, with a bit of washi tape, I was able to stamp only this sweet critter and then, I added my balloons.

I stamped this image onto a panel of plain white card stock, (I ran out of Ninnah solar white) with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored it with just 2 Prismacolor pencils, the strings on the balloons were done with SU markers. 

I stamped the CELEBRATE sentiment from an old stamp with Versamark ink and heat embossed it with Tempting Turquoise embossing powder, the colors on this card are from the Color Q challenge #330 , I had to dig deep into my card stock scraps to find this colors to at least die cut my balloons, I wanted to use a panel of Poppy Parade for the layering but I didn't have enough. 

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

I'm also linking this card to the CAS{E} this Sketch! challenge. 

Here are the banners that inspired this card.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, Happy Stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

The Good Old Days.....

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you today that features one of those nostalgic and classic phones of yesteryear, I've seen this phones only in movies but I think they are just so beautiful.  I'm linking this card to the Freshly Made Sketches challenge for this week. Here is my card.

The image is from a retired Flourishes stamp set called "Call Me" and all the images are so beautiful. I stamped it onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Sazon Jet Black ink and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in baby oil.

The beautiful pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley. Both the sentiment in the front and the inside are from the same set.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

I stamped the cute cup with the flowers again by masking the rest of the image, with Dove Gray Stazon Ink. 

Here is a picture of the stamp set I used, so you can see how it looks like.

Here is the sketch that inspired my card.

Thank you for stopping by today, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

DISTRESS!!!!!

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you for the CASology challenge this week, the CUE WORD is "DISTRESS", and also, I'm going to link it up to the "Less is More" challenge with a with a new theme wich is ADD SOME TEXTURE, this is my second entry to this challenge, you can see my first one HERE if you'd like and, last but most definitely not least, I'm entering this card in the Power Poppy February challenge "SWITCH UP YOUR SHADES" which is just asking to use a coloring medium we don't use to often, I love water coloring and I use it all the time but sometimes I add a bit of texture and shading with pencils, well, this time NO WATER COLORS AT ALL, I just colored this image with only my Prismacolor pencils. Here is today's card.

This beautiful bloom is from Power Poppy's stamp set called SIMPLY CAMELIAS , and it's, well.....simply gorgeous!!!  Following both the CASology and the "Less is More" challenges, I distressed the image, adding some texture to it. I sponged it with a bit of Hello Honey ink to kind of "age" it a little. Now, I chose this sentiment because I think missing someone is really stressful, so I hope both the stressed image and the sentiment are ok. for this challenges requests.

Here is the picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment from the retired Flourishes stamp set called "Pick Wild Flowers" really follows the one in front. Here's a picture of this beautiful retired stamp set.

And here are the banners that inspired my card.

ADD SOME TEXTURE.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

So Glad We're Friends.....?????

Hello everyone: I'm here again with another card to share with you today. When I know more or less that my day will not be as busy, I have the chance to come to my craft room and just let the MOJO flow. Besides, I just received a new set of plain rubber images that I bought sometime ago and today, I finally cut them up and use a couple of this images from a fabulously funny Katzelkraft stamp set called Less Chats Russes , I just love all of this images, they come in a sheet of deeply etched red rubber, you have the option of getting them cling mounted if you'd like but I buy them just like that, I just trim around and they stamp beautifully. Here is my card, that I'm linking to the Can You CASE It? sketch challenge.

I don't know about this cat's expression, he is either ignoring the little "friend" or he is pretending to ignore him to pounce on him in a split second, what do you think? I stamped the cat on a piece of Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with the aqua painter and SU markers in More Mustard for the body and a little bit of Certainly Celery for his eyes. The mouse was also stamped with Stazon ink but on a bigger panel of water color paper in which I glued a strip of pattern paper from my stash. First I wanted to stamp the mouse separate and then snip him out but that tail was going to be nearly impossible to cut so I glued the paper first then, using my MISTI  I stamped the mouse right on top of the paper to give the illusion he is standing on it? I hope this is ok with the challenge, the sketch doesn't have another image on that line.

Here is a close up picture of this unlikely pair of friends.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "Dahlias" and the teeny, tiny mousy is from another classic and adorable retired SU set called "Furry Folk", from the 2011-2012 Idea Book and Catalog. 

Here is the sketch that inspired this card.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, (maybe a bit later? LOL!!) happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

CAS for The Paper Players.....

Hello everyone: This week at The Paper Players Joanne has fun, CAS challenge, "Up, Up and Away" is the theme and it can be anything, from balloons to airplanes and everything in between, I went with balloons and this fabulous stamp from the Unity Stamp Co. kit of the month "Hey Girl", I love this girl with the pretty dress holding all of this balloons. Here is my card.

I stamped it onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with the aqua painter and Prismacolor pencils. I love combining this two coloring mediums, I get the best shading and blending of the colors.

Since the challenge is CAS I didn't add any embellishments, I think this bunch of balloons are beautiful enough, the sentiment is from the SU set Teeny Tiny Wishes, which I love, the font on all of them is beautiful, they are small but they all convey their message.

Here is the picture of the finished inside.

This sentiment is from Hero Arts "Be Happy" stamp set and it's stamped in Wisteria Wonder.

Here is the inspiration photo that inspired my card.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

When Life Gives You Lemons.....

MAKE SWEET LEMONADE!!!!! Hello everyone: This is my second post for today, I was supposed to post this one first but I had a bit of a mishap with my card. I left it by the vent under my work table for the Crystal Effects to dry and, when I came back later to check if it was dried, the card was face down on the carpet, needless to say, it was full of fuzz so, I had to start over. But anyway, I'm linking this card to the Just Add Ink Photo Inspiration Challenge. Here is my card.

I really loved this colors, pinks and greens plus, the picture really look inviting, refreshing and delicious. I stamped the image from the retired Flourishes set called "On the Porch",  onto a piece of Canson water color paper and cut it to a 2 1/8" square to fit it inside the die cut frame, cut with the Spellbinders Fleur de Lis Square Dies. I colored the image with the aqua painter and SU markers in Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose. The sentiment is from the same set and it's stamped with Melon Mambo ink.

The embellishment on the bow is a retired SU Brads collection called "Jelly Bean Sweet Shop", so cute, I still have a few of this pretty brads.

The pattern paper is from Lili of the Valley, the ribbon is from my never ending stash. 

Here is a close up of this refreshing pitcher of lemonade.

Here is a picture of the finished inside.

The sentiment is from a Hero Arts stamp set called "Be Happy Today", I picked it because it rimes with the sentiment in the front. 

Here is the inspiration photo that inspired my card, see the pretty colors?

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

There Is No Place Like Home.....

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you today made with one of my treasured SU retired stamp sets from the 2009 Spring/Summer catalog. This are the most adorable and sweet bees I've ever seen, I'm sure you'll agree with me. I'm linking this card to the Addicted to CAS challenge with a CODE WORD "HOME" and the "Less is More" with a theme of ADD SOME TEXTURE. Here is my card.

This set is just adorable, that bee hive and the little bees just steal your heart. I stamped it onto a panel of Canson water color paper with Stazon Jet Black ink and colored it with the aqua painter and SU markers in Daffodil Delight, More Mustard, a little Baked Brown Sugar ink for the stand, and Bashful Blue for the little bee's wings. I sponged the sky with Broken China distress ink and the grass with Peel Paint, then I added some die cut clouds and a few little flowers and grass. The sentiment is from a retired Flourishes set called "On the Porch". 

Here is a close up of this little bee throwing little hearts made with the retired SU Pinking Hearts Punch, my favorite to make this teeny, tiny hearts.

The little heart at the entrance of the bee hive is punched with the Owl Builder Punch. Here is a picture of the finished inside.

I stamped this sentiment in SU Hello Honey. 

Here are the banners that inspired this card.

ADD SOME TEXTURE.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Fantastic Plastic.....

Hello everyone: I have a card to share with you that I made some time ago, I saw one similar but it was for a baby on Pinterest and I thought it was really pretty and easy to make.
I have some old catalogs from Herrschners, which is a company that sells, among other things for crafters, beautiful cross stitch patters, thread, hoops, etc. I love cross stitching, I haven't done much of it lately but lately, I've been getting the itch to start doing this beautiful craft again.
But anyway, the catalog is full of pictures of the cross stitch patterns that are so beautiful I cut them out and save them for.....well, whatever, I just can't throw them out.
So, when I saw the challenge over at Shopping our Stash called "Fantastic Plastic", I knew the time had come to share this card.

The doors are cut with a very old retired SU Bigz die called "Peekaboo Frames" I found THIS  picture on Pinterest. The challenge calls for the use of plastic in our cards so I just cut a couple of squares of window sheets a bit bigger than the opening of the doors, then, with an exacto knife, I cut the center of the doors to attach the plastic. The rest of this cute cabinet is made wiht just brown card stock, for the drawers I used some brads for the knobs and I stamped a little design in the middle, the legs are punched out with the retired SU Extra Large Decorative Label Punch.
I sponged the edges to give the china cabinet a bit of a vintage look. The "dishes" inside are one of this pretty cut outs from the catalogs. Here is a picture of it with it's doors closed.

The 2 "bone china" plates are also cut out from the pages of the magazines, I hope you can see the "glass" on the doors.

Here is a picture of the finished inside, this card takes me back to my maternal grandma's house, she had one of this cabinets in her bedroom, full of mementos and knick knacks, it smelled like lavender.

Here is the banner for this challenge blog's theme this week.

FANTASTIC PLASTIC.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.

Robin's Eggs.....

Hello everyone: I had a chance to go to do a bit of shopping last Friday for some much needed card stock, ink and card bases and, before I leave the store, I always go and check the CLEARANCE secction, I've found some real bargains there for very little money and this time, was no exception. I found a stamp by Inkadinkado, the price was only $2.00 but the image was what caught my eye, here is my card. I'm linking it to the CASology challenge this week, with a CUE WORD "EGG".  There is only a little over a day left to enter this challenge, I already submitted THIS OTHER CARD but I thought this sweet nest deserved to get a chance too.

I think this image is just so sweet, everything in it shouts "SPRING" to me.  When the Robins start coming back that is a clear sign that Spring is coming, I love their beautiful blue eggs.

I stamped this image onto a piece of plain white card stock with Stazon gray ink, I didn't want very dark edges, and colored it with Prismacolor pencils, no baby oil this time, and then, I paper pierced around it with the retired SU Paper Piercing pack, I used the Labels Collection outline, that is all the embellishment I put on this card.

Here is a picture of the finished inside, the sentiment is from my stash and the butterfly is from the SU set called Best Thoughts, both stamped with Wisteria Wonder ink.

Here is the CASology Cue Card that inspired mine.

Thank you for stopping by, until next time, happy stamping.

Hugs from Maria.